Posted on Nov 16, 2015
Do you think someone who has never been in a combat has the right to call themselves a veteran?
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Let me apologize in advance to the people who find this question insulting... I'm just wondering what other people who served viewpoint is.
I personally went many years before I broke down and got "Desert Storm" Veteran tags, and the "Veteran" identifier on my driver's license... I'm still not entirely convinced that I deserve the 101st patch on my right sleeve, for the most part all I did was fix helicopter engines in the sand.
I have a great friend that served in the Air Force, and never left CONUS.
I have a relative that served on Aircraft carriers before Vietnam.
Both proudly stand up when "Veteran's" are asked to at public gatherings, but I always feel strange standing up.
Legal definition of "veteran" aside (someone who served at least six months and received an honorable discharge). I'm wondering more about how those of us that served feel about the term.
When a civilian hears "Veteran" I get the impression that they think we all stormed the beaches at Normandy, and for the most part I was really bored, played Spades and Tetris on my Gameboy during Desert Storm.
Should someone who was in the military during the Vietnam conflict (but never in theater) be allowed "Vietnam Veteran" license plates?
SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4", TSgt Hunter Logan , CH (MAJ) William Beaver , COL Ted Mc
I personally went many years before I broke down and got "Desert Storm" Veteran tags, and the "Veteran" identifier on my driver's license... I'm still not entirely convinced that I deserve the 101st patch on my right sleeve, for the most part all I did was fix helicopter engines in the sand.
I have a great friend that served in the Air Force, and never left CONUS.
I have a relative that served on Aircraft carriers before Vietnam.
Both proudly stand up when "Veteran's" are asked to at public gatherings, but I always feel strange standing up.
Legal definition of "veteran" aside (someone who served at least six months and received an honorable discharge). I'm wondering more about how those of us that served feel about the term.
When a civilian hears "Veteran" I get the impression that they think we all stormed the beaches at Normandy, and for the most part I was really bored, played Spades and Tetris on my Gameboy during Desert Storm.
Should someone who was in the military during the Vietnam conflict (but never in theater) be allowed "Vietnam Veteran" license plates?
SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4", TSgt Hunter Logan , CH (MAJ) William Beaver , COL Ted Mc
Posted in these groups: 
Military service
Purple Heart
Military service Purple Heart
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 358
Here is a very similar question that I asked awhile back. Maybe you can find more answers!
https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/combat-vets-how-do-you-feel-toward-non-combat-vets
https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/combat-vets-how-do-you-feel-toward-non-combat-vets
Combat vets how do you feel toward non-combat vets? | RallyPoint
I am a non-combat vet retired in 2004. Never deployed in the first Gulf war, Iraq or Afganistan. My Commander and my Cheif chose to leave me home to care for my wife. Not my choice but I appreciate what they did for us. She was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis in 2001 and breast cancer in 2003. All of my buddies have deployed and I miss that little connection they have when we all get together. So I wonder is there any animosity by combat...
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Yes. Anyone who has served this great country of ours though military service is s a Veteran.
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I've never deployed, but I know multiple things I have done that have a direct effect on the war.
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I have seen MANY folks that finished 20 in the Guard that were never deployed that call themselves Veterans. To me, a Veteran is someone who deployed for a combat mission. Some people distinguish it as veteran vs combat veteran.
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SGT Larry Prentice
Please do no think I am taking anything away from those that served and didn't deploy, that's not my point. My point is that maybe there should be a distinction between those of us that served in a combat zone and those that did not. That is all. If Rickie X serves 20 and never goes anywhere but to the armory on drill weekends...he gets vet plates and all of the benefits. You serve the same 20 but deploy to Iraq. Should there be a difference in status??? I think YES. That's all I'm saying. If Joe B serves for 6 years and doesn't deploy but served during the conflict time does he get to call himself a vet? again I think not.
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SN Richard Simonetti
SGT Larry Prentice - About a distinction between a vet who served in combat and a vet who was not deployed? Neither vet had a choice in the matter but they both enlisted. It not up to anyone whether they are deployed or not as that's up to the powers to be. However when I lived in NY I remember you could go to your Local Veterans Administration Office and someone like me who was never deployed in a combat area as I served during the early 60's before the Cuban Missile Crisis could register as a Cold War Vet. That distinction is given to anyone who served between 1946 and sometime during the Reagan administration when the Berlin war came down. In any case a Vet is a Vet whether he was deployed or not into combat as long as He/She severed Honorably!
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I had a friend who was in a bar in Berlin when it was attacked by terrorists in the eighties and he received a Purple Heart wich I feel was deserved.
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Absolutely. There are veterans and then there are combat veterans. Some people hide from deployments (IMO 99% of E-7s or MAJs and above without a combat patch) while others really never got the chance to go. On the other hand, it was pretty easy to volunteer prior to 2011 but many decided against it because "they had a family".
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